After facing some uncertainty over the past eight months, Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures have Pacific Rim 2 making some progress towards becoming a reality with Daredevil showrunner Steven S. DeKnightstepping up as director instead of Guillermo del Toro. That gives fans something to look forward to, but we’re not going to get too excited until the sequel is actually in front of cameras.

In the meantime, one fan has decided to help hold us over with an opening credits sequence for a Pacific Rim anime. Sadly, it’s not a real Pacific Rim anime series that we’ll get to watch, but it does make me think that we need one immediately. Read More »

GKids will release the English-language remake of Studio Ghibli‘s 1991 anime classic Only Yesterday. Academy Award-winning filmmaker Isao Takahata’s movie has never seen official release in North America and it i the only theatrical Studio Ghibli feature not yet released on home video in the United States or Canada (although a subtitled version of the film aired on Turner Classic Movies in January 2006 as part of the channel’s month-long salute to Miyazaki and Ghibli). GKids is planning the release the English-dubbed film theatrically in early 2016, coinciding with the film’s 25th anniversary. But the bigger news is the voice cast for this English-language release. Hit the jump to read more about the Only Yesterday US release.

The Collected Works of Hayao Miyazaki Blu-Ray Set will be released by Disney in North America and is now available for pre-order for $224.99. The U.S. release of this set appears to be an Amazon exclusive. Shipping is free with or without Amazon Prime. The set includes the following films: Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Porco Rosso, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Ponyo and The Wind Rises. An international trailer and details about bonus features included in the set, can be found after the jump.

Marco Ramirez has been hired to write a screenplay for a live-action adaptation of Katsuhiro Otomo‘s popular anime and six-volume manga story Akira. More details on the back-from-the-dead Akira adaptation after the jump.

While we might have to wait a little while longer for a proper Guardians Of The Galaxy anime, Marvel is going to bring the galactic superhero group to Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers in Japan. According to IO9, the “ridiculous, Beyblade/Pokémon-esque anime series” is “designed solely to sell Marvel merch to young kids.” And next week our new favorite group of space misfits are set to appear on the anime series.

I should note that the art above is not from the anime episode but actually an amazing piece done by one of our favorite artists, Eric Tan, who created the anime-style art of Big Hero 6 which will be sold in Disney Stores at some point. Also note the piece is flipped sideways to fit our header image guidelines. Which brings us to the question: what will the real Guardians of the Galaxyanime designs look like? Hit the jump to see a photo and video.

Apparently Hollywood has milked every single Seventies and Eighties property they can and now they’re on to the Nineties. Lionsgate has just announced they’ll be rebooting the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers for the big screen. Read the full press release about the new Power Rangers movie below. Read More »

Warner Bros.’ live-action adaptation of Akira has gone through so many rough patches at this point that it’s a struggle for us to even remember at any given time whether it’s on again, or off. But Jaume Collet-Serra hasn’t lost track, because he’s still planning to direct. In fact, it’ll “hopefully” be his next project.

Whether that’s good news or bad news for fans of the source material is another question. While Collet-Serra says he wants to be “respectful,” he’s not interested in being overly faithful. For one thing, he hopes to “bring strong characters” into the film because he doesn’t find any of the characters from the original to be interesting. Read his comments after the jump.

Briefly: The output of Japanese animation house Studio Ghibli has been aimed primarily at movie theaters, but the company is aiming at television for its next project. In August, a television series based on Astrid Lindgren‘s novel Ronia the Robber’s Daughter, will air in Japan. The book has been turned into a film in Sweden, as well as a stage play and musical.

The series was created as a coproduction with Polygon Pictures, and Hayao Miyazaki’s son Goro Miyazaki is directing. The book is about Ronia, daughter of robber chieftain, and in the novel she develops a relationship with the son of a rival chieftain. They spend time together in secret until a chain of events exposes their friendship. [via NHK]

In March, Studio Ghibli’s latest film, From Up on Poppy Hill, comes to the US. Directed by Goro Miyazaki, son of Hayao Miyazaki, the film is a coming-of-age story set in Japan’s transformative post-war days. The animation is characteristically gorgeous, while the real-world setting sets it apart from most of Ghibli’s output.

This first US trailer, which comes from new-ish Ghibli distributor GKids, features the English-language voice cast (Jamie Lee Curtis, Christina Hendricks, Ron Howard, Aubrey Plaza). Some of the previous trailers have been subtitled, but this will give you an idea of how the film will play in the States, should you happen to catch a showing with the English track. Read More »